Sofía Vergara's journey to Hollywood wasn't exactly typical. Speaking to the New York Daily News, the former model shared that acting was never in the cards for her and she initially wanted to become a dentist. However, in a 2013 E! News special, Vergara revealed that she was first discovered while enjoying a beach day with her parents as a 17-year-old kid. The "Modern Family" alum caught the eye of a scout, who asked if he could snap a Polaroid of her. Vergara then got her big break in the modeling
industry in 1992 with a lead role in a Pepsi commercial.
During a May 2024 roundtable for the Hollywood Reporter, the Emmy nominee confessed that she lied to agents in the early days of her career by assuring them that she could sing and dance so they would take her on as a client. Vergara's fib worked a little too well, and she wound up bagging the role of Mama Morton in Broadway's "Chicago" in 2009. That very same year, Vergara became a household name with the release of the first season of "Modern Family." Over the next seven years, she remained the highest-paid female actor on TV, raking in millions.
However, her life hasn't been all roses and sunshine. During a 2011 interview with Parade, the actor reflected on how her struggles shaped her outlook. "With so many bad things happening, it creates a tough skin," she remarked. "You just have to take a deep breath and keep on going — if not for yourself, then for everybody you love." And that's exactly what Vergara has been doing ever since her career took off.
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Sofía Vergara Was Diagnosed With Thyroid Cancer
While speaking at the 2021 Stand Up To Cancer event, Sofía Vergara recalled how her doctors had discovered a lump in her throat at the age of 28 when she was at a routine checkup. After further testing, they determined that the "Griselda" star had thyroid cancer, recommending radiation and surgery as her treatment. Vergara admitted that her first reaction upon hearing this was to panic. However, she tried her best to keep the anxiety from the scary diagnosis at bay and started reading up on her condition to better equip herself on how to handle it. With the support of medical professionals and her family, Vergara eventually became cancer-free.
When the Colombian-American actor spoke at a "Follow The Script" campaign event in 2013, she disclosed that she was initially confused about the cause of her cancer because she hadn't adopted any particularly unhealthy habits. However, the actor still decided to over-correct and vowed to only consume organic foods from then on. After a few months, though, Vergara realized that her choice wasn't sustainable and decided to return to a healthy and balanced lifestyle instead.
The former model also revealed that she still had to take medicines for hyperthyroidism daily because her thyroid gland was removed as part of her treatment. In February 2022, Vergara shared a photo on Instagram of herself from her first acting class following her treatment. While reflecting on her health journey in the caption, the actor noted that she had developed a scar around her throat from her treatment, which served as a daily reminder of just how "lucky" she was.
Sofía Vergara's Brother's Untimely Death Devastated Her Family
As The Washington Post reported, Sofía Vergara and her siblings required bodyguard protection growing up because they came from such a powerful family in Colombia. However, one time, her 27-year-old brother Rafael Vergara stepped out without protection and was fatally shot during a kidnapping gone wrong. Speaking to Variety in 2024, Sofía sadly acknowledged that her elder brother's death gravely affected their family, noting, "It destroyed my family. It destroyed my mom. It changed our lives completely."
In fact, in her 2011 interview with Parade, the "Modern Family" star confessed that the grief had turned her mother into a "zombie." The "America's Got Talent" judge informed Variety that their family's grief was only made worse by the fact that they were in the dark about the reasons for the murder. Although she was busy raising her then-5-year-old son around the same time, Vergara still moved her immediate family to America so that she could support them through the tough time.
She divulged to Parade that her other brother, Julio Vergara, in particular, had a tight-knit bond with Rafael and took his death incredibly hard. Although he wasn't mentally prepared to go out into the world, Julio attended college in Michigan and developed a reliance on alcohol and eventually drugs. "Now he's like another person," Sofía said of Julio. "To see somebody dying over 10 years, little by little, that's the worst punishment." In 2011, Radar Online reported that Julio had been deported from America after being arrested 30 times in a decade due to his drug addiction issues.
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Sofía Vergara Fought Two Tragic Legal Battles
Ever since Sofía Vergara and her former fiancé Nick Loeb split in 2014, he has made several attempts to gain custody of the embryos the couple froze in 2013. In court documents filed in 2015, Loeb claimed that his ex wasn't permitting him to implant the embryos in another woman. In text messages included with the complaint, Loeb warned Sofía that they would go to hell if the embryos went unused. In response, the Colombian-American actor wrote, "We r going to hell regardless," (via the BBC). In a New York Times op-ed, Loeb claimed that their relationship ended because she wasn't as serious about having kids as he was.
Sofía scored a big victory in the lengthy legal battle against her ex in 2021, when the court decided that Loeb couldn't use the embryos without his ex-fiancée's green light. However, the Emmy nominee's legal struggles were far from over. In 2023, she was granted a 5-year restraining order against an alleged stalker who made her and her son Manolo Gonzalez Vergara's lives miserable. In court documents, Sofía alleged that the alleged stalker, Gregory Aaron Brown, believed he had a close bond with both her and her son.
According to the filings, Brown had trespassed around her home in Los Angeles several times. "At times, Brown has stated Petitioner (Vergara) 'belongs' to him," the documents read. The "Modern Family" star also detailed how the stalking had taken a toll on her, writing, "Brown's ongoing, aggressive and harassing conduct and messages are extremely distressing and are causing me constant anxiety and emotional distress."
Sofía Vergara's Marriage To Joe Manganiello Ended In A Highly Publicized Divorce
Through a statement shared with Page Six in July 2023, celebrity couple Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello announced that they were parting ways after seven years of marriage. At the time, a source informed People that although the two actors appeared happy whenever they stepped out together, they were actually getting into constant arguments over petty issues behind the scenes. An insider added that "their physical attraction to each other" wasn't enough to make up for how different they were as people. However, Vergara later confirmed that the reason for her divorce from Manganiello was all in the age gap. Speaking to El País in January 2024, the "Hot Pursuit" star professed that her marriage ended because her hubby, who is four years younger than her, wanted kids.
However, she wasn't onboard because the comedic actor believed she couldn't parent as well as an older mother. In a July 2024 chat with Men's Journal, Manganiello painted a very different picture. He admitted that although he wished to start a family with Vergara, their differences of opinion on the matter did not ultimately cause their marriage's downfall. The "Magic Mike" star further elaborated, "To be painted as if I had some sort of midlife crisis, and after nine years, turned to somebody and gave them an ultimatum of, 'Do this potentially unhealthy thing to your body, or else I'm gone'? That's never who I was." According to Manganiello, their marriage ended simply because they had grown apart in the same way that many couples in long-term relationships do.
Sofía Vergara Faced Many Struggles In Hollywood
Sofía Vergara's stunning transformation into a famous actor brought with it many struggles. While speaking to the Hollywood Reporter in 2010, the "Chef" star confirmed that her opportunities in showbiz were fairly limited because of her accent. While most actors with American accents got around 10 scripts a month, the Colombian-American star only received two on average. In fact, Vergara even hired a coach to help her gain a better grip on the American accent. However, the training didn't do her much good because she found herself focusing on the pronunciation rather than the performance itself.
Even decades of experience in the industry didn't ease her struggles. During a 2024 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Vergara shared, "I'm always looking for characters because there's not much that I can play with this stupid accent [...] My acting jobs are kind of limited." And when she does find work, people are quick to attribute her success to her beauty instead of her acting chops. Over the years, Vergara has made several candid comments about her iconic good looks and she hasn't shied away from admitting that they have played a part in her landing acting gigs.
During her 2024 El País interview, the former sitcom star asserted that she wasn't bothered by people attributing her success to her voluptuous figure because it did, in fact, help her out in the early days of her career. However, Vergara was also quick to point out that she was still a Hollywood mainstay decades later because of her own hard work, lovable personality, and the many risks she had taken.
Read the original article on The List.
